On 4 December, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced its latest inscription to the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity: China’s Spring Festival, just in time for the next celebration in late January next year.
“Spring Festival”, according to the inscription on the Representative List of ICH of Humanity, means the “social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year”. Applied by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the celebration includes the preparation prior to the new year, staying up late on Chinese New Year’s Eve, and visits to family and friends during the festivities. Rituals, customs and legends of different communities and cultural groups are also included in the inscription. The inscription ends with “[t]he spring festival promotes family values, social cohesion and peace while providing a sense of identity and continuity for the Chinese people”.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Spring Festival successfully inscribed as UNESCO ICH” (#春节申遗成功#) shot to the top of the Hot Search list with a whopping 420 million views. Other related topics also made it to the list, including “China now has 44 UNESCO ICHs” (#中国已有44项世界非遗#) in third place with 130 million views.
Local culture and tourism authorities and state-owned media outlets leaned heavily into promoting the successful application, as well as the fact that China now has the most UNESCO ICHs in the world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also welcomed the inscription and invited people of the world to participate in China’s oldest and most widely observed holiday.
Chinese consumers are currently embracing ICHs across the country, not just UNESCO ones but also national and regional ones. The “guochao” waves have brought much interest in museums, art, crafts and cultural traditions in China. The inscription will almost certainly bring more interest to ICHs and traditional cultural practices around China in the upcoming new year.
